


I Will

by JayniePowers



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 17:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12916485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayniePowers/pseuds/JayniePowers
Summary: Ellie bottles up her frustration with Joel, and she finally lets it out, obviously not without lots of yelling. (Similar to something I posted on fanfic.net)





	I Will

Ellie was impatiently sat at the couch, like a mother waiting for her teenage daughter to come home at two in the morning. She sat like that for about an hour, trying to prepare herself for someone coming to her door to tell her that Joel wasn’t coming home. He went out hunting with Tommy all the time, but he was always home before the sun went down. It had been several hours since then. Ellie couldn’t stop her foot from tapping.  
Then the front door opened.  
Joel casually walked in and took his shoes and jacket off.  
“Where the fuck have you been!?” She popped up on her feet, and Ellie’s worry quickly switched into anger.  
“Well hello to you too.” Sarcastic bastard.  
“This isn’t a fucking joke, Joel. Where the hell were you?”  
“It took longer than expected to get back, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” He was being defensive, as always.  
“You scared the shit out of me!” Ellie was beyond pissed off at him at this point.  
“What are you, my mother?” More fucking sarcasm.  
She gave him an irritated glare.  
“What’s your deal?” Joel was more than confused by how she was acting.  
“You wouldn’t understand.”  
“Try me.” He was starting to get frustrated with her stubbornness.  
“You wanna know why I’m so pissed off? You’re so fucking oblivious!” Now Ellie was yelling at him again.  
He rolled his eyes.  
“I’m so mad, because you think that this relationship is completely one-sided!”  
“Ellie, you know-”  
“No, don’t even argue. You think that I don’t give a shit.”  
Joel gave up trying to argue, he knew she could read him like a book.  
“You never think about how I feel, and you’ve proven that more times than I can fucking count!”  
“The hell’s that supposed to mean!?” She completely dismissed his question and continued on her rant.  
“Well guess what, Joel!? I care just as much, if not more, than you do!”  
Joel scoffed at her statement.  
“Nonono, don’t even pull that bullshit with me! I care more than you could ever know! I know that you don’t, but I do! I’ve known I cared ever since Pittsburgh! Which is probably longer that you’ve cared about me!” Joel knew that most definitely was not true.  
“I care so much, it fucking hurts, Joel! And I hate you for that!” She started to stomp her way towards him. “I fucking-” Ellie shoved him against the wall in frustration and her eyes started to well up. “hate you! ‘Cause I know in the end, sooner rather than later, I’m just gonna lose you!”  
He stared at her, back against the wall, completely awestruck by her anger and unknowing of what to say. Tears were streaming down her freckled cheeks at this point.  
“I’m not ready to lose you yet.” Ellie quietly said, staring into his eyes, not screaming at him anymore.  
Joel’s heart shattered to pieces in his chest. Ellie was on the verge of sobbing. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Ellie. She was his everything, and he never thought about the fact that she could feel the same way about him.  
“I’m sorry.” He said, unsure of how to reply in a way that would make her feel better.  
She gave him the are you fucking kidding me face and a laugh.  
“That’s all you have to say? ‘I’m sorry’!?” Here we go again.  
“What do you want me to say!?”  
“Jesus Christ, Joel! Stop being such a pussy and say what you want to!”  
“You know what I want to say, Ellie!?” Uh-oh. “How the last thing I want to do is to hurt you!” It was Ellie’s turn to be shocked by what he was saying. “How I did nothing to deserve you, and you could do so much better than me!” It was her turn to be heartbroken, too.  
“I want to tell you that I hate myself too! Somehow everything seems to fall apart around me, and you need to get away as soon as possible before you get hurt!” She swore she saw tears in his eyes as he stopped before they spilled. His heart was pounding. He finally said what he wanted to.  
Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and let her tears come free. They both stuffed their faces in each other’s shoulders and held each other tightly.  
“Please stay as long as you can.” Ellie softly said in his ear. “For me.”  
“I will. Trust me.”  
That’s all Ellie really wanted to hear.  
It was frustrating for Joel that he always had to remind her that he wasn’t going anywhere. He could sense her fear of abandonment but he wanted her to trust his word. Which was kind of hypocritical, but he was starting to finally earn her trust back. He needed to earn it back or else their time spent together wouldn't be worth it.  
“I love you, Joel.” That was the first time Ellie had ever said that to anyone. The only person she’d ever loved was Riley, and that ended before she could say anything.  
“I love you too, baby girl.” And also the first time anyone’s said that to her. It felt surprisingly good to say, and to hear. She had never really felt loved before they met. And now that she did, she couldn't take that for granted.  
After that, Joel always came home at a reasonable time and told Ellie when he was going to be out late. He didn't want her to worry. He didn't want her to be alone. Like he said, he never wanted to hurt her.  
So he never did.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m still really new to fanfic, but I have a lot of fun writing these. Thank you so much for even acknowledging my writing, and I would appreciate it a lot if you left feedback to help me become a better writer.  
> Thanks!  
> -Jaynie


End file.
